WOODS HOLE, MA — The public is invited to attend a symposium featuring the research results of 18 undergraduate students who have spent the fall semester at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) participating in the Semester in Environmental Sciences (SES). The students will present the results of their independent research projects covering topics such as pollution in the coastal zone and consequences of land use changes.  The symposium will be held from 8:30-4:30 pm on Monday, December 15 in the Lillie Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole.

The SES program is sponsored by The Ecosystems Center, the MBL's ecological research arm. Under the instruction of Center's scientists, SES students have been studying aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems science with some of the world's experts on the subject, and attending lectures on biogeochemistry, ecosystems modeling, and global change. They have also participated in a science writing workshop taught by professional science journalists and a seminar series that features
prominent research scientists from around the nation.

Virtually all of the Ecosystems Center's principal investigators and many of the support staff participate in the SES program. Among the key environmental issues studied at The Ecosystems Center are the ecological consequences of global climate change; tropical deforestation and its
effects on greenhouse gas fluxes; nitrogen saturation of mid-latitude forests; effects of acid rain on North American lakes; and pollution and habitat destruction in coastal ecosystems of the United States.

Because the SES program is designed to immerse serious science students in an intensive semester of hands-on ecological science, students spend a significant amount of time in the laboratory and field - 20 hours each week - investigating local forests, ponds, and estuaries.

Symposium Schedule

08:30

Welcoming Remarks

08:40

Katherine R. Kleese Grinnell College
"The Effect of Land-Use History on Soil Quality: Implications for Sand Plain Grassland Restoration."

09:00

Claire C. Treat, Mount Holyoke College
"Controlled Burns and Effects on Soil Nutrients and Respiration."

09:20

Beth A. Bernhardt, Lawrence University
"Sulfate Reduction and Alkalinity Generation in Aquatic Ecosystems."

09:40

Gareth W. Crosby, Mount Holyoke College

"Effects on Phosphorous Cycling in Fresh and Marine Sediments with Iron and Sulfate Addition."

10:00

Melanie K. Hayn. Cornell University

"Effect of Changes in Salinity and Sulfate Concentration on Potential Nitrification in Freshwater and Marine Sediments."

COFFEE BREAK

10:40

Eve I. Gasarch, Bates College

"Components of Ecosystem Metabolism in Cranberry Bog Influenced Streams."

11:00

Timothy A. Gocke, Lafayette College

"Upland Land-Use and the Effects on Upper Trophic Level Dynamics and Structure."

11:20

Marselle O. Alexander, Bates College

"The Role of Sphagnum in the Acid-Base Chemistry of Bog Waters."

11:40

Caitlin E. Hicks, Middlebury College

"Nutrient Limitations on Peat Decomposition in Atlantic White Cedar Swamps."

LUNCH BREAK

13:10

Kendra J. Myers, Middlebury College

"The Impact of Fertilization on Rates of N2 Fixation, in Cranberry Bogs and Salt Marshes"

13:30

Nicole A. Chiota, Furman University

"Lability of DON from Pristine vs. Anthropogenically Influenced Systems."

13:50

Jacqueline N. Gordon, Brandeis University

"Chemical Composition of Anthropogenically Influenced Groundwater."

14:10

Lindsay O'Reilly, Bard College

"A Comparison of Microbial Diversity and Rates of Nitrification Across Nutrient and Salinity Gradients in the Backus and Quashnet Rivers."

14:30

Jennifer A. Korth, Dickinson College

"N and P Limitation Along a Salinity Gradient and Algal Populations' Response to Changing Nutrient Loading."

COFFEE BREAK

15:10

Marissa C. Sue, Wellesley College

"Secondary Indirect Effects of Cupramine on Mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus) and Its Implications on Benthic-Pelagic Food Coupling."

15:30

Jacqueline Bowie, Bates College

"Possible Effects of Copper on Mya arenaria Behavior and Benthic-Pelagic Coupling."

15:50

Michael A. Fichman, Haverford College

"Effects of Nitrogen on Tannin Concentrations in Oaks and on Palatability of Oak Forests."

16:10

Jordan Kramer, Vassar College

"The Effect of Bioavailable Nitrogen on Mycorrhizae."

There will be a brief celebration and awards ceremony after the symposium.